Review of RRS Ernest Shackleton icebreaker

RRS Ernest Shackleton is an icebreaking vessel used primarily as a logistics (research/survey/cargo) supply ship serving Antarctica-based scientific stations. Departures are roundtrip from Port Stanley (Falkland Islands). When not in Antarctica, the icebreaker can be privately chartered for expedition cruises from the shipowner. RRS stands for "Royal Research Ship".

Royal research ships are the UK's merchant navy vessels conducting scientific research for the British Government (HMG). The list of organizations that are allowed to operate RRS vessels includes NERC (abbrev "Natural Environment Research Council"), BAS (abbrev "British Antarctic Survey") and NOC (abbrev "National Oceanography Centre"). However, a warrant from the British monarch has required a vessel to be designated as RRS. The UK's current fleet of Royal Research Ships includes the following vessels (the year built in brackets): RRS James Clark Ross (1990), RRS Ernest Shackleton (1995), RRS James Cook (2007), RRS Discovery (2013) and RRS Sir David Attenborough (2019).

The Ernest Shackleton ship was launched under the name "MV Polar Queen". The shipowner GC Rieber Shipping is a Norwegian company headquartered in Bergen Norway. The company operates offshore and subsea support vessels, as well as marine seismic vessels. Some of its ships are operated under charter on logistics, research and polar cruise expeditions.

Since August 1999, the Ernest Shackleton ship is operated by BAS (British Antarctic Survey) on a long-term bareboat charter. The ship is named after Sir Ernest Shackleton (1874-1922) - a British polar explorer who led 3 British Antarctic expeditions - "Discovery Expedition" (1901-1903), "Nimrod Expedition" (1907-1909) and "Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition" (1914-1917).

Ernest Shackleton icebreaker vessel details

The icebreaker features an ice-strengthened double hull and ice-capacity up to 2,5 m (8 ft). The vessel has a cargo tender used for ship-to-shore operations (transfer of supplies) when it can't dock alongside. The list of onboard machinery and facilities includes:

Scientific staff is accommodated on the ship in 2-, 3- and 4-berth staterooms. Each of these passenger cabins is equipped with en-suite bathroom (shower, WC / vacuum flush toilets). Linens are changed weekly. The ship has a laundrette (passenger laundry facility with 2 washing machines and 2 tumble driers), additional to its main laundry room. Cabins shouldn't be locked while the ship is at sea (only when in port).

Note: In the case of poor AIS coverage, tracking the vessel's current location will be impossible. You can see the CruiseMapper's list of all icebreakers and ice-breaking research ships in the "itinerary" section of our Icebreakers hub. All states and their fleets are listed there.